Friday, January 23, 2009

Palenque

Palenque was a Mayan city, and is situated deep in the lush green rain forest of Southern Mexico. It was our favourite precolonial site of all those we visited. Only an estimated 5% of the ruins have been uncovered but those that have are very impressive. We particularly enjoyed the fact that we had access (though restricted) to some of the tombs, and the insides of most of the buildings. On the day of our visit it was raining off and on which seemed to keep most tourists away, so we had the place almost entirely to ourselves.

Some archeologists interpret the tower to be an astronomical observatory.

A stone lined aqueduct redirects a river to run right through the city. Much of it remains buried underground, but this portion is caved in.

Pacal's mask, which is now in the museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, where we took this picture.

A diagram of the inside of Pacal's tomb. Visitors to the site used to be allowed down into the tomb, but the condensation from so many people breathing was destroying the murals, so now it is closed to the public. Below is the Museum of Anthropology's re-creation of the inside of the tomb. It is believed that the pyramid must have been built around the sarcophagus because of its massive size.

The Red Queen's tomb, however, is still open to the public. The red substance is cinnabar, a toxic mineral used both for decoration as well as to deter grave robbers (and archeologists).

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Welcome to our travel blog. Our amazing trip through Latin America came to an end in December 2009 and we are currently living in Australia. However, we will continue to publish posts every few days until we are caught up.

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Our route

View Josh and Laura´s Journey in a larger map
An interactive map of our route to date. Our Google map account seems to be a little overloaded now so to see our entire route click "View Josh and Laura's Journey in a larger map." You may alternatively click and drag this mini map to see where we are now. While our photos are typically months behind we tend to keep the map relatively current.
Blue lines are by bus or carRed lines are by boatGreen lines are by foot or bikeOrange lines are by trainPurple lines are by planePlacemarkers represent places where we have spent at least one night.